Twisting Path
by Mo0ngazer
Summary: Brothers and sisters, friends and enemies, death and dreams, darkness and light... Pebblepaw is about to discover the true meaning of them all. Look inside for full summary-couldn't fit it here. T for battle and death. Companion story of Crooked Alley.
1. Allegiances and Prologue

_Pebblepaw is the deputy's apprentice,_ but that doesn't mean he is held in any higher regard than the other apprentices. Quite the opposite, actually. When he finally snaps and looses his temper with his mentor and the deputy's son, he runs off and ends up in Twolegplace, where he meets a spunky kittypet that looks suspiciously like the one in his dream. When the plans of Ridge, a twoleg-hating alley cat, are finally revealed, only he and his new friend can stop him from becoming a murderer. Pebblepaw, a quiet, witty tom who really does have a lot to say, narrates his way from the woods, to the ocean, and then back to the mountains. But does he have the strength to sacrifice everything that matters most to him? Or will it have to be his life?

_**Allegiances**_

_**AshClan**_

**Leader: **_Ridgestar - _Red-brown tabby she-cat

**Deputy: **_Stagfrost - _Light brown tabby tom_**  
Apprentice**_**: **_Pebblepaw_

**Medicine Cat: **_Stormfeather – _Elderly gray tabby tom with green eyes

**Warriors: **

_Rushfoot-_ Pale gray tabby tom

_Rainflower-_ Dark gray she-cat with white markings_**  
Apprentice**_**: **_Pinepaw_

_Frostfeather-_ White she-cat with blue eyes

_Twigstripe-_ Ginger tabby tom

_Turtlestream - _Dark tabby she-cat_**  
Apprentice**_**:**_ Lilypaw_

_Copperstep- _Golden brown tom_**  
Apprentice**_**:**_ Smokepaw_

_Ivystep- _Dark gray tabby she_-_cat

_Emberfoot-_ Black tom with a ginger paw

_Twiststorm-_ Dark gray tom_**  
Apprentice**_**: **_Fleetpaw_

**Apprentices:**

_Pinepaw- _Dark brown tabby tom

_Smokepaw- _Gray tom

_Lilypaw- _White she-cat with gray patches

_Fleetpaw-_ White she-cat

_Pebblepaw-_ Light gray tabby tom with white feet and deep ocean-blue eyes

**Queens:**

_Riversong-_ Blue-gray she-cat

**Elders:**

_Flutterspots-_ Perky graying tabby she-cat

_Maplefoot- _Brown tabby tom

_**Cats Outside of Clans:**_

_Ridge_ - Dark red-brown tabby tom; leader of the alley cats

_Bane_ - Black and white tom

_Branch- _Brown and white tom

_Scruffy- _Fluffy brown tabby tom

_Stripes- _Ginger tabby she-cat

_Ivory- _White she-cat

_Scamper- _Long-haired brown tabby tom with white markings

_Pebbles- _Dark gray tabby she-cat with white feet and sky blue eyes

_Whiskers- _Chubby gray tabby tom

_Hugo- _Elderly silver tom

_Mocha- _Elderly dark brown tabby she-cat

_Sparks- _Ginger tabby she-cat

_Ashes- _Gray she-cat with darker gray patches

_Charcoal- _Black she-cat

_Flicker- _White she-cat with ginger splotches

_Shadow- _Dark gray tom

_Storm- _long haired elderly pale gray tabby tom with green eyes

* * *

**I would like to thank my cousin the 'Prehistoric Pterodactyl Named Delma' for a considerable amount of plot help, her cat Scamper for agreeing to star in the story, and my other cousin Carobelle for typing up the allegiances when I was at her house, because I type wicked slow and she's wicked impatient. Thank you guys!!**

* * *

_**Prologue**_

_The town was quiet. Usually_, even at night, the port was lit with blinding lights, and blinking lights, and loudspeakers, and foghorns, and engines were growling and blaring and rumbling, like an earthquake, and a volcano, and a thunderstorm all at once. The only light was pale beams of silver moonlight filtering between the damp stone buildings. A dark fog wrapped the quiet town in darkness, and the sound of the ocean echoed through the damp cobblestone alleys.

Pebblepaw's eyes snapped open. He jumped up, his heart pounding. Where was he? He looked up and down the dark alley, trying to calm down. Twolegplace. He took a deep breath. Twolegplace was nothing to be afraid of. The forest was just over here—

He trotted down the alley, breathing fast. How he'd gotten here was anyone's guess. The roaring sound grew louder. A cold wind blew back against him, flattening his fur as he came out onto the deserted, muddy thunderpath. He squinted in the cold mist, trying to figure out where he was. The stench of twolegs and their monsters was confusing him, and there was a smell over it all that made him want to gag, or sneeze—salt.

Staring into the fog, Pebblepaw listened to the steady roaring of the ocean. The shadows rising in the distance were the mountains, and behind Pebblepaw the town towered in the swirling mist. He shivered and shrank down in the shadows—_how'd I get here from my den in camp? _hewondered. _What's that noise? Is that the ocean? _Glancing both ways along the dimly lit street, Pebblepaw darted across the thunderpath.

The ground suddenly turned to wood. _Moving _wood. Pebblepaw leapt back. The planks shifted beneath his feet and rocked with the waves. The wind howled and blew harder as Pebblepaw crept along the wood. It tugged at his fur and whistled through the cracks in the boards. It sounded oddly like... whispering.

He sank his claws into the planks, flattening himself to the ground. But the voices rose around him.

_There are two_.

Huh? Pebblepaw looked around for a cat, but saw no one. The voice was strange, but oddly familiar.

_But soon there will only be one. _

Then Pebblepaw saw the shadow.

_Pebbles clattering on the blood river's shore beneath scampering paws... _

_One black paw will lash back... _

_And find another... _

_Even the brightest star hides secrets... _

_And even distant mountain ridges can reach the stars..._

_Even an accident can save the cats who need you most..._

_Dark moonbeams light the fog..._

A cat was sitting in the mist just a tail-length ahead of him, seeming to glow. Those sky-blue eyes looked oddly familiar too—

_The only thing holding you back... is you. _

Suddenly a huge wave rose and swept Pebblepaw out with it.


	2. Chapter 1: Dawn and Patrol

**_Chapter 1: _Dawn and Patrol **

_The amber light of morning _filtered through the fronds of bracken arching above us. I watched the beams as they danced in the light breeze, feeling my heart pounding. Today was the day.

Today was the day I'd leave my clan behind.

Today was the day I'd meet the best friend I would ever have.

Today was the day I'd begin to learn the fate of my AshClan.

Today was the day I'd set off on the journey of my life.

Of course, I had no idea. If I had, would I have had the heart to do it? Would I have been brave enough to get up out my nest if I knew it would all end in tears? Was I strong enough to face that? Am I?

My only clue to the stirring of fate was that I was awake so early—or was it my dream that had awakened me?—because I only woke up early when I was excited about the day. I didn't realize this, of course, but now that I look back at it, it's just so _blaringly_ obvious.

I stared at the sunlight until Smokepaw prodded me in the side.

"Hey, sleeping beauty," he mewed in a hoarse whisper. "Dawn patrol."

"Coming," I sighed, painfully aware of my pulse pounding in my leg. Everything was in vivid, like I was living the last few seconds of my life. I desperately hoped they weren't, though if I was going on the dawn patrol with Smokepaw, my final seconds might not have been too far off.

I stumbled into camp, looking around like I'd never seen the place. It was a hollow in the woods, surrounded by trees, shrubs, ferns, and a whole _lot_ of thorns on three sides and a high stone cliff face on the other. The only way in was to climb a boulder which stood over the camp on a low slope, hollowed out at the bottom for Ridgestar.

Against the other side of camp, there were a few shallow dips in the stone with bushes growing in front of them, reinforced with thorns and branches as dens for the rest of us. A huge hollow oak tree with low, sweeping branches stood tall, its canopy reaching out to the edges of camp. The elders say our hollow was once a riverbed, but the river dried in a great fire, from where a lion was born.

We are the lion's descendants, apparently, along with the leopard and tiger. The tiger was born from the shadows of night, and the leopard from the sunlight in the branches above. They lived in harmony in our riverbed, but as the twolegs came and made the forest small and swarmed the mountains that tower above us, we grew small to adapt to the changing winds. That's where we AshClan come from. I just hoped our camp didn't decide to become a river again.

That's what the elders said, anyway. A friend of mine was always telling me its just myths and superstition, and that we were just cats. Not big '_legendary_ _warriors'_ padding around killing each other.

Fortunately.

Anyway, I followed Smokepaw, towards the Oak, where the fresh-kill was kept in the hollow part. As it was an early morning, there were rarely any tasty catches leftover from the day before. Today, however, there was a _rabbit_ sitting under the usual squirrels and sparrows. I saw it... then realized I was walking behind _Smokepaw. _

A cultivated, high-class twit, he was a dark gray tom with blue eyes the color of the sky. Son of the leader and deputy, he strutted around camp like he owned it, shedding snide remarks and insults like fur. Unfortunately for his rapidly inflating head, and our sanity, he _was _fast and talented and smart and witty. He always had something to say.

_Un_fortunately.

He bent over and took a mouse. Then, with an amused glance over his shoulder, Smokepaw trotted across camp to sit with his father, who happened to also be my mentor. I watched him go with my mouth hanging open.

About then I should've noticed something was up—Smokepaw _hadn't _taken the rabbit. Well, I hadn't eaten since dawn the day before, so...

I picked it up, and carried it to the overhang where the apprentices usually ate. Smokepaw and I were the only ones awake, and he was over with Stagfrost, the deputy, so I was alone. I chewed slowly on it, watching Smokepaw. He turned his head and looked at me, smirked, and turned back to his father. I saw his jaws move as he told my mentor something, about me and unflattering, no doubt.

I sighed and took another bite of the rabbit, knowing at least that Stagfrost wouldn't think any less of me. I was his apprentice, after all.

Strict and tough, he trained me hard, offering little praise and few words. But this was the most effective way to train me, because it always made me try harder, try and prove to Stagfrost that I was every bit as good as he tried to make me. After about three moons, however, I was a bit hurt by his silence and annoyed by his lack of _any_ praise whatsoever.

I chewed and thought about what we were going to do on the dawn patrol. Would we go along the twolegplace border? That made me remember my dream the night before—what had the cat said? The brightest star and the black paw... and something about a blood river, which didn't sound so good. And—

"Pebblepaw!" said a voice from above me.

I jerked my head up to see Stagfrost towering over me. I mustered, with difficulty, my most innocent look. _What did I do _this_ time?_ I thought.

"Pebblepaw, I thought I trained you better than this!" Stagfrost mewed, unnecessarily loud, in my opinion, looking remarkably affronted for something that his son must have told him about me. I stopped chewing. "You cannot eat until the clan has!" _Oh_. "At the very least take a humble amount of fresh-kill, and not the largest in the pile!"

"Fox dung," I muttered under my breath. "No, Stagfrost, see, I haven't eaten since yesterday, at dawn about, and I was about to—"

"I suggest you deliver that rabbit to the elders im_mediately_," Stagfrost went on, ignoring me. Eternal question of the day: why the heck does Stagfrost never talk, then start talking a whole lot, not listening, and using vocabulary the size of Smokepaw's mouth (in other words, unnecessarily _humongous)_? The world may never know.

Seething slightly, I glared at Smokepaw, who was smirking at me from across the hollow, then at Stagfrost, for _taking his side_! Whatever happened to _clan_ over _kin_?!

"Yes, sir," I muttered. Even though they were being loathsome, I couldn't help but feel a bit abashed, and slightly stupid(er than usual). I should've known Smokepaw was up to something, and that I wasn't supposed to take the huge rabbit. "But won't the elders... not... want to get... woken up?" I added stupidly, wondering if that even made grammatical sense.

"Then you can leave it at their den entrance," Stagfrost mewed over his shoulder, already walking away. "Get going."

I watched him go, seething slightly more. I couldn't have asked for a better teacher, but at least I could've asked for one with a heart.


	3. Chapter 2: Alleys and Oceans

_**Chapter 2: **_**Alleys and Oceans**

"_And this is a mouse, _see, little kitty?" mewed Smokepaw in a baby voice, waving it in front of me. "You catch it by _hunting, _see? Not trampling through the forest like a _loose_ _badger_! You do a crouch and then creepy crawly forward, and grab the _big bad_ mousie by its _tail _and chomp it like a _big bad_ warrior, see?"

We were patrolling the twoleg border, renewing the scent markers and catching what we could. So far, Stagfrost had lavished praise on Smokepaw for his every step, whereas I was criticized for every leaf that moved in the trees above us. And let me tell you, there are a _lot _of leaves up there.

Just now I had missed a mouse because Smokepaw had 'sneezed' at just the wrong moment and Stagfrost had caught it anyway. I was treated to yet _another _lecture. That brought today's total up to forty-two—a new record! Now he was watching his son torment me without saying a word.

Seething like a volcano vent, I swiped my unsheathed paws at Smokepaw, spitting. He ducked, laughing, but I knew him too well. I had aimed low. My claws collided with his upper jaw, knocking it firmly, and my claws sunk slightly into his cheek. With a yowl, Smokepaw swiped upward and swatted my paw back, knocking me off of him.

"You'd better shut up or I might just take an ear along, too!" I spat viciously. I was sick of him, just sick of his baiting and mocking and his father's biased punishments and bullying—I wasn't going to put up with it anymore. Smokepaw bared his teeth and was about to retort when Stagfrost suddenly swooped down upon us.

"Pebblepaw!" he cried in what could be interpreted as horror. I mouthed the words along with him, knowing exactly what he was going to say next. "I thought I—"

"Taught you better, how could you let your emotions take control, I thought you knew better, you know knot to rise to the bait, you can't let your anger get the better of you, Pebblepaw!" I finished for him in a loud, high-pitched voice. Stagfrost looked dumbstruck as I went on, my voice rising angrily.

"Pebblepaw, great StarClan, I thought you knew better, Pebblepaw, of course Smokepaw is always right, and he's obviously better than you, Pebblepaw, because he's _my _son, so that makes him automatically superior, Pebblepaw, and why don't you get ahold of yourself and calm down because we can boss you around and mock you because we are always better, Pebblepaw, and you're just a blundering little kitty, Pebblepaw!" My voice became squeaky with rage and bottled up anger as I finished. They were both staring at me as if I'd sprouted wings and decided to fly to the moon—so much for quiet little Pebblepaw!

"Why do you even bother with me if you think I can't learn to be as great as your son? Why don't you just make him a warrior now and leave me out here to fend for myself, because I'm just a hopeless little kitty?" I spat. And with that, I wheeled around and sprinted off through the forest towards twolegplace.

* * *

I was lost. Definitely. Where in StarClan's name was I? This was great. Really great. _I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing and no clue because I lost my temper with the _deputy_ of my _clan_! Great. Just great. _

I looked out the edge of the forest, at the sunny twoleg town, where monsters roared past on a path of black stone, and twolegs walked by on raised tan pathways. There were tall stone nests with damp cobblestone alleys winding between them, and at the other end of one, all I could see was blue—was it the ocean? Like I'd seen in my dream? I had to look.

Taking a deep breath, I waited for a monster to pass, then streaked across the thunderpath, my fur on end. My heart pounding in my throat, I leapt onto the raised tan path and, skirting a gaggle of twoleg kits, I raced into the alley. Full of metallic cylinders and wooden crates and scattered twoleg garbage, it reeked of salt and twolegs. Another smell was on the ocean breeze—cat!

I followed it, trotting eagerly and praying to StarClan they'd be able to give me directions. The scent led me to the end of the alley, where the steam from the twoleg vents cleared a bit, and I could see the ocean clearly for the first time.

A tossing and turning expanse of deep sapphire blue edged with the white froth lining each wave. Seagulls cried and wheeled above it, diving occasionally towards the water and rising again with a fish in its mouth. The wind was cool and clear, the deep blue sky dotted with puffy clouds and streaks of white, and for a moment I stood there and drank it in, wishing that I was a bird too, wheeling and diving in the sky.

The open air and fresh breeze exhilarated me, and I stared out at the half-bridges, wanting to sprint out and watch the ocean churn beneath me. I wasn't lost anymore—I was _home_.

A rushing filled my ears, and I took a deep breath of sea air, all my fear gone. I tensed, and shot forward onto the thunderpath, my eyes fixed on the docks ahead.

I didn't hear the monster snarling as it sped towards me.

I didn't hear its paws screech on the black stone below it.

I didn't hear the screech of terror that tore from my throat.

All I heard was a rushing sound and a howling wind in my mind.

My vision filled with white light, then darkness.


	4. Chapter 3: Waves and Dreams

_**Chapter 3**_**: Waves and Dreams**

_I was falling through darkness,_ falling, falling...

I don't know for how long. Finally, the darkness resolved itself and became a tossing ocean, and I was swaying on the wooden half-bridges.

The waves suddenly swelled_, _dragging me down with them. I choked, gasping and coughing as the salty water filled my lungs and mouth. Spluttering, I felt something nudge my leg. Paddling furiously, I glanced down. A pair of sky-blue eyes stared back at me.

I jumped away in terror, my heart pounding in my throat again, and nearly went under the water again. Spitting out a mouthful of seawater, I paddled frantically for the surface, choking and panting. I turned in the waves, trying to see where the shore was without drowning, but it seemed to have vanished in the rising tide. A seagull screamed above me. I looked up and saw it diving straight towards me.

Panicking even worse, I tried to paddle away from the landing point I'd calculated from its current trajectory, squeezing my eyes shut. It landed in the ocean with no splash, pulling its wings in and settling on top of the water. It ruffled its feathers unconcernedly as I floundered beside it. It was a solid gray bird with an unpleasantly hooked beak. Then it turned and stared straight at me.

Its eyes were green, and its stern gaze seemed to suggest deep sorrow and deep wisdom. It cocked its head at me. Then it spoke.

"Pebblepaw," he said in a voice that was clearly male.

"Um..." I began eloquently, but I inhaled a bucketful of salt water and choked quite a bit before adding, "Yeah?"

"I have a message for you," he said. It was rather remarkable how little emotion his voice showed.

"Okay—" I said, spitting out another bucketful of seawater.

"From StarClan."

"Oh," I said in a wheezy voice, tipping my head back to avoid inhaling another mouthful.

"_There are two," _he said, "_but soon there will be only one." _

I felt a twinge inside me. That sounded unpleasantly familiar. _"_There are two," I said aloud to myself, trying to remember, "but soon there will be only one.._." _

"Repeat after me," said the seagull of eternal wisdom. "You are passing on the message."

"Okay..." I said blankly, paddling furiously and squeezing my eyes shut as another wave crashed over me. Spitting the water out, I squinted at him as he continued.

"_There are two," _he said again, "_but soon there will be only one."_

"_There are two," _I said obligingly, coughing the briny water out of my throat, "_but soon there will be only one."_

"_Pebbles clattering on the blood river's shore beneath scampering paws..." _he said. Suddenly my heart was beating a lot faster than usual. "_One black paw will lash back... And find another... Even the brightest star hides secrets... And even distant mountain ridges can reach the stars... Even an accident can save the cats who need you most... Dark moonbeams light the fog..." T_hen I realized where I had heard those words before. And the blue eyes that had stared a me from underwater, a different pair of eyes than the seagull's, were the ones I'd seen on the dock before I'd been dragged underwater in my first dream. I opened my mouth and began to repeat after him.

"_Pebbles clattering on the blood river's shore beneath scampering paws..." _I said in a low, choked voice. "_One black paw will lash... back... And find... another... Even the brightest star... hides secrets... And even distant mountain... ridges can reach... the stars... Even an accident... can save... the cats who need you... most... Dark... moonbeams... light the fog..." _I said, coughing and clawing my way back to the surface.

The seagull dipped its head. "_The only thing holding you back... is you." _

I tipped my head back, panting with the effort. "_The only thing holding you back..." _I gasped_, "Is you." _

The seagull nodded. Then he vanished.

I gasped, and inhaled another bucketful of seawater. Choking, I felt the cold numbing my paws begin to travel up my legs, chilling me to the bone. Gagging and retching, I felt my lungs fill with saltwater. The cold water was dragging me down, down into the dark depths of the ocean. I paddled with all my strength, spitting and coughing, but I could feel my muscles beginning to seize up, and the cold was seeping into my chest...

A wave crashed over my head, and I was dragged under the dark ocean.

The blackness resolved itself suddenly. A single slit of pale light filtered through my eyelids. I snapped my eyes open.

I was in a small cavern with dark, damp, jagged walls and a single crack in the ceiling where watery sunlight was filtering through. A tom with long gray tabby fur and green eyes stared down at me. I turned my head, the strong smell of salt and plants filling my scent glands. This was obviously a sea cave, and I wondered if the tabby had found me by the beach, of if it had been a dream.

Then, with a jolt, I recognized the elderly tom hovering above me. He was the _seagull_!

I rolled my head sideways, and hunched in a corner was the familiar figure of a gray she-cat with sky-blue eyes—why was she familiar?

Her mouth fell open. So did mine.

I recognized her, too. She'd also been in my dream—she was the eyes under the water and on the foggy dock. Did she know what the prophecy meant?

"You!" I gasped.


	5. Chapter 4: Seagull Scat and StarClan

**_Chapter 4: _Seagull Scat and StarClan **

"Me?" mewed the she-cat blankly.

I stared at her. Had she been in my dream without knowing it? Where was I? How'd I get here? My leg really hurt. I screwed up my face in pain, regretting my outburst already.

My heart was beating painfully fast, and I looked the she-cat over. A young gray tabby, about my age, with sky-blue eyes and white markings; she looked oddly familiar. I couldn't put my claw on it—it wasn't the dream that was the only thing it was...

_Me_?

"What in the name of—" I began, as did she.

"—Seagull scat--?" she demanded, looking alarmed but strangely amused. And was that _relief _in her eyes?

"—StarClan?!" I finished with unnecessary emphasis, "is going _on_?!"

"Well then, what in the name of seagull scat is '_StarClan'_?" she asked, with the air of making a decision and opting out of finishing her own sentence.

I hoisted myself onto my paws, now very alarmed. What did she mean by _that_?! Was she trying to trick me? Recklessly, I plunged on: "You don't know what _StarClan_ is?!" I said in a low, urgent voice. Had she been knocked senseless too?

Her eyes became unfocused for a heartbeat, thinking. Despite my fear, I felt a laugh stirring inside me—short attention span? I glanced around again, looking for the storm-colored tom with the seagull's eyes.

But he was gone.

I turned as the she-cat answered my question. "No, I don't," she replied calmly. "Who _are _you anyway? Why did you keep talking in your sleep—" she broke off, appearing to decide against going into the details.

"I was talking in my...?" I began, but I trailed off, making the same decision she had. "Pebblepaw. My name's Pebblepaw." I could feel her attention sharpen instantly as I said it. _What_? _Has she heard of me or something?_

"'Pebble...'?" she repeated, looking oddly misty-eyed. Then she seemed to snap together. She sat up straight and looked ready to explode. Did she always show her emotion with this much exaggeration?

"You?" I asked, mostly to bring her attention back to me.

"Pebbles," she replied with a triumphant grin. "I'm Pebbles." She looked like she'd just been named supreme ruler of the universe.

"You—look like—uh..." I found myself saying. With great difficulty I kept from saying 'me', but it was a close call. "Someone I know..." I finished rather lamely.

"Well now, take you for example," Pebbles mewed, standing up and pacing back and forth as if she couldn't contain her excitement, "would you say you know yourself?"

"Um... yeah..." I said, feigning dumb. "Why, exactly?"

"Because, young chap," she said, (_what's 'chap' mean? _I thought,) stopping and facing me, "I seem to bear a striking resemblance to _you_!" I just stared at her. Pebbles sighed. "It seems that we aren't exactly accomplishing any comprehensible or otherwise informative conversation here with all our sentences trailing off," she said, "or is that just me?"

I finally cracked a smile. "Seems like it," I said. She wasn't trying to trick me, she was nice, and funny, and obviously smart, and she'd saved me by bringing me here... right?

"Well," she began, "here goes—I'll have to tell you everything, won't I?" I nodded. It sure seemed like it, because I was as confused as he sky was blue. I glanced outside. It was grey.

I didn't think about how I'd have to tell her everything, too.

"See, last night, I had this weird dream..."

**Author's note: To fully understand, I suggest you read 'Crooked alley', the companion story for this one. I really would love a review, because I need a bit of feedback... or is the lack of reviews supposed to be feedback? Are you guys trying to send me a subliminal message? Because if you are, I got it... **


	6. Chapter 5: Games and Scamper

_**Chapter 5: **_**Games and Scamper**

"_...and-then-it-hit-me_-and-it-was-all-black-then-I-was-back-in-my-dream-and-your-eyes-were-in-the-water," he took a deep breath and continued, "and-there-was-this-all-grey-seagull-with-green-eyes-and-he-told-me-that-same-prophecy-to-repeat-it-and-pass-some-message-and-then-he-vanished-after-he-said-he-was-from-StarClan-and-i-drowned-and-then-I-woke-up-and-saw... you."

I felt it was necessary to tell the stone cave wall my entire story at full and incomprehensible speed.

"Oh." Pebbles said, giving me a look that plainly said _HUH_?! "Could you repeat that? A bit... _slower?" _

"Yes," said a dark red-brown tabby tom, stepping into the cave from where he'd plainly been listening, "could you say that again?"

"_Ridge_!" Pebbles gasped in horror. I allowed my face to assume a look of equal horror. Ridge! Wasn't he supposed to be evil? My first thought on seeing him was how much he resembled Ridgestar. Then I dismissed the thought. No cat would give both their kits the same name! Besides, here he was, hating twolegs and invading clan territory! There goes my theory!

"Sorry, Ridgey, old pal, but this is a closed club, no more members can apply until next season, so, no matter how much you want to join the tragic-accident-then-be-in-a-coma-and-discuss-various-supernatural-happenings club, you will have to wait, just like everyone else," Pebbles told him sadly. "But there is a waiting list, so..." She trailed off and left the rest of my sentence to the imagination.

Ridge hissed softly.

"Don't mess with me, kitty," he growled. "I think I might know you better than you know yourself..." He turned his eyes back onto me, and Pebbles started to look a little panicked.

"So, about our little club...? You know, the waiting list? You're at the top! Got that application in early, I see. Good, good, I like a well-organized, punctual cat. You'll do well here, especially on the tragic accident bit..." she lowered my voice as she finished, "though I _daresay_ you will mostly be the one _causing_ most of the accidents...? That _is_ what you enjoy... right?"

I laughed softly. For some odd reason, his resemblance to the mother and mate of the two cats I hated most made me angry. "Something like that," I said, amazed at the lightness of my tone and grinning at Pebbles' gape. "You know, you seem to greatly resemble an old friend of mine... Ridge, isn't it?" I felt a little weird, sounding just like Pebbles, but she was clever and smart, so what could be wrong with following her pawsteps and antagonizing this big ball of fuzz?

Ridge nodded slowly in response to my question. I beamed. "Well, Ridge, your personality reminds me of another old, dear friend... actually two: Smokepaw, and of course dear old Stagfrost. My mentor, you know? And then our unforgettable leader..." I smiled pleasantly at the memory of their dumbstruck faces as I yelled at them. "Well, yeah... you and Ridgestar? Like twins."

He looked ready to explode.

Pebbles jumped in. "Gee, Pebblepaw, you seem to have broken some record of some sort," she told me, positively beaming. "He's actually _shaking_ with anger! Wonder what happened... personally, I don't see any insult in comparing him with a heartless mentor who doesn't have enough brains to see past his son's gaping mouth, which happens to always be in the way, so really, Ridge, you should calm down. Talk about your feelings. Anger management, you know? Just let it all out."

I was smiling.

"Ridge, is this excess anger bubbling out about the club? Because we can bump you up to the waiting slot... if you really want to... it's just a club though, nothing _that _important..." I was now restraining my laughter with difficulty, pure happy laughter. Pebbles grinned back, looking like the sun had peered around the clouds.

"Ridge, Ridge, you need to _talk _about your feelings, let us know... nobody can help you if you keep them bottled up inside..." she told him in a mocking little-kit-comforting voice. "Let it out... let us know how you feel..."

Suddenly Ridge whirled around to face her, a horrible smile curling his lip.

"Alright, kitty, let's _talk!" _His huge paw swiped out of nowhere, catching her in the side of the head.

My cheery mood evaporated instantly.

Pebbles fell to the floor with a cry of pain, and I yelped something garbled that sounded like '_Pebbles_!' but I couldn't really tell. She was a house cat—she'd never fought anyone before—what if Ridge had killed her? I admit it: I'm kind of one for the heroics, and I can't stand watching anyone die or be injured, and I hate to do so to any cat myself. I'd rather die than kill.

Suddenly Ridge was on top of me, his claws at my throat. "Alright, kitty," Ridge snarled. "Talk. Tell me what you told her. Now, or the same thing'll happen to you. _Talk_!"

Despite the pain and desperation of my situation, I felt a Pebbles-worthy idea forming in my mind. "I don't know! Don't hurt me! We were just playing!" I squeaked, trying to sound genuinely terrified. It wasn't difficult. "All I said was that I was lost in the woods, and when I saw the ocean, I knew I was home, so I ran and forgot about the—you know—"

I kept myself from saying 'monster', because I knew that would give me away. My head was oddly clear for a cat with a killer sitting on his chest, claws unsheathed. I mentally thanked Pebbles for teaching me the house cat word for monster.

"—cars," I continued hastily, "—and so one of 'em hit me, and that's where she found me and took me to you guys, she told me, and then the seag—" I decided it would sound weird if a seagull was healing me, so I improvised quickly "—I mean, you know, the seagull-stormy-grey cat with those funny green eyes came and healed me, so..."

I trailed off, trying to sound as innocent and hopeless and helpless as I possibly could. I looked past Ridge and saw Pebbles blink her eyes open slowly. Relief flooded me. It was as short-lived as possible. Ridge bared his teeth and pressed harder on my throat, sinking his claws in. I gasped, trying to breathe and think clearly, but my vision was blurring, and I could hardly think. A roaring wind was growing in my ears—

"We—were—just—playing—" I gasped. Ridge leered.

"Seagull _scat_," I heard Pebbles mutter. Ridge missed it. I was getting desperate.

"Please... it was just pretend..." I whispered, "and you can... you join the club too... if you want... you can play too..."

That did it. Ridge let go of my. I gasped for breath, coughing like I was

"Silly game," he growled. "Do you really think I want to start playing it too?"

"Well, you did seem kind of... _enthusiastic..._ about it," I muttered, sitting up shakily.

"Not so fast, kitty," snapped Ridge, pinning me back onto the ground. "Don't you realize?" He raised his voice and flicked his tail back and forth as he added to whoever was hanging around the entrance to the cave, "Bring him in."

A long-haired tabby tom dragged in an old gray cat. Pebbles and I gasped together.

"I can't start playing your game," growled Ridge. "I already _am_."

The young tom was hardly older than me and Pebbles were. The old tom was the same gray as the seagull, and he looked just like Pebbles had described him. Could he be—?

"Set him down over here," mewed Ridge, releasing me. I sat back up, watching the gray tom. He wasn't moving.

Pebbles had stopped gaping at the two newcomers and was now uttering a string of formidable swearwords at the young tom. He was avoiding her gaze, looking down at the ground.

"Good, Scamper, very good," mewed Ridge smoothly. "Your loyalties are admirable."

Scamper looked up at Ridge and smiled wholeheartedly. He meant it. He really believed Ridge.

That's when I really got scared.


	7. Chapter 6: Moonlight and Darkness

_**Chapter 6: **_**Moonlight and Darkness**

_Scamper seemed unable _tomeet his captive's eyes, no matter how many curses she hissed in his direction. I was feeling drained of energy and hope, and also blood. My leg throbbed steadily, as did my head, and with each throb the cave seemed to darken. Soon I was struggling to stay conscious. The throbbing was keeping time with my irregular heartbeat, the cavern pounding in and out of focus.

Soon I was numb with pain. I couldn't feel anything, not the wind from the cave entrance, the cold hard floor beneath me, not any feeling of any kind, psychological or physical, and I sluggishly decided that was rather nice. And I further decided that resting was a good idea, and slipped without protest into the welcoming darkness.

* * *

The night air was cool and refreshing on my face, the smell of salt and the mist in my fur... I opened my eyes sluggishly, realizing I must have been passed out for the entire afternoon. I blinked slowly as if trying out my eyeballs, then they adjusted to the dim light and I saw.

The sea was amazing. Each wave was a silver-capped mountain, rising and falling in the buffeting wind, mist enreathing the moon that hung above it. The stars glimmered on the water's surface, lighting each ripple like a fine silver thread.

I was probably gaping like an idiot at this point, my mind still moving slower than my reactions, and those even slower. I didn't notice Pebbles grappling for a conversation-starter beside me, or Storm on the ground next to us. I was as stiff as the docks' boards creaking above the cavern, and I wasn't even sure how I'd managed to sit up.

"So..." Pebbles said slowly. She sounded more uncomfortable than I'd ever heard her, (admittedly, I'd only known her for a day, but...). "You... have any... riveting life stories you'd like to relate about here?"

I shook my head slowly, because it took a lot of effort to do so, and I was still processing her words.

"So, that was some... erm... pretty on-your-feet fast thinking back there, seriously brilliant stuff, you know..." She said hesitantly, like I was going to attack her. I tried to move, but it didn't work. My brain was discussing the whole plan with my nerves, but they weren't too keen on listening. I couldn't even smile, let alone squeak out some embarrassed reply.

"Hey, Pebblepaw, you there? Earth to Pebblepaw, hellooo...?" Pebbles mewed, shifting away from me to wave her tail in front of my face. Nothing happened, I couldn't even summon up the energy to blink. There was a darkness that had nothing to do with nighttime creeping around the edges of my vision, and a howling wind was beginning to fill my ears that nobody else could hear. "Oh, no..." She said in horror.

Her figure swam hazily in my vision, and I heard her gasp of horror faintly... _Here I go again, _I thought, _back to the old StarClan hunting grounds. What fun. _

"Pebblepaw!" I heard her gasp as if from a distance. Then something dragged me downward past the edge of my vision and into the blackness.

**Author's note**

**Hey guys, sorry this one's so short, but the next couple chapters will be pretty long and pretty informative. I could really use some reviews, because everyone who I know is reading this is remaining silent, except for a few nice people (thank you guys) and I don't think its because you don't like it... well, I hope that's not why... So, if you do like it, review, if you don't, review and tell me why. I would really like to try and improve this please! And no pointless 'this is garbage' flames, if you want to tell me that, be specific about it.**

**Thanks, **

**Mo0ny **


	8. Chapter 7: Sunlight and Sparks

_**Chapter 7: **_**Sunlight and Sparks**

"_Pebblepaw_... _you seem to be_ _joining_ _us_ rather a lot," a voice mewed somewhere next to me, "so we figured we'd show ourselves."

"StarClan?" I said blankly. They didn't sound majestic and all-powerful. Not at all.

"Sort of," replied another voice. It was a she-cat's, and it sounded younger, lighter and friendlier. "But not exactly... I find myself more comfortable unassociated with them."

I blinked awake, and saw a three cats who looked about apprentice age. One was a ginger tom, one a pale gray tabby tom, and one a rust-colored she-cat with bright eyes that seemed to rather dance. If a cat could blush, I would've then.

"Technically," the she-cat continued, "we aren't s'posed to talk to you and let you flounder, etcetera, but I'm pretty sure Stormfeather isn't _always_ right about _everything_. Last time I checked he wasn't supreme ruler of the world, anyway."

"Um..." I said, lost. Then something connected with my brain. "Hang on... like, Stormfeather, the AshClan medicine cat?"

"Exactly," the ginger tom said. His voice had an unpleasant curve to it, like he was mocking me. "Your old clan is worried sick about you, but Stormfeather, he's watching you, through StarClan, of course, your every move... except, of course, when he's distracted by other things." He smirked. I disliked him already.

"Ah..." I groped for something to say, glancing at the she-cat and feeling highly idiotic, "Other things like what?"

"Oh, you know," said the tom airily, smirking wider, "this and that."

The she-cat nudged him. "C'mon, Bouncepaw, cut it out." She turned to me. "He's talking about Storm. You've met him, right? He was healing you? And he sent you the dream with the seagull?"

"Right..." I said, still rather lost. My brain was moving about a claw-length per season, and the sudden appearance of three dead (or not) cats wasn't helping.

"Well, it turns out that Storm and Stromfeather—" she continued, but the cat called Bouncepaw cut across her.

"The point is, this Ridge character and his gang are going to end up a serious danger to your clan, and only one cat knows," he said.

"Me?" I guessed, glad to have caught on to something.

"Oh... make that two cats then," replied Bouncepaw, flustered. I felt a twinge of satisfaction. "And the other that knows isn't about to say anything."

"Who is it?" I asked, my interest sparked.

"That's not the point either," he replied. "The _point_ is—"

I was getting tired of him. "Who are you guys?" I interjected. "What are you doing? Where are you from? Why are you helping me? What's going on?" I turned to the she-cat, hoping for an answer.

The three of them exchanged looks.

"Well, see..." Bouncepaw began, but the gray tom, who had spoken first, interrupted. He had a common-sense, rational voice.

"I'm Stripes," he said, "yes, a kittypet, like your friend Pebbles. This is Bouncepaw—" he pointed with his tail, "—and Sparkpaw—" he indicated the she-cat, who smiled warmly at me, "they're from SkyClan, which is pretty far away."

"But... aren't you guys all in StarClan?" I said, monstrously confused.

"No," said Stripes with a sigh. "I'm a kittypet. I actually live in the Sunlight, the kittypets' version of 'Heaven,' as the twolegs call it, or your own, 'StarClan'."

"So there is a Heaven after all?" I heard someone say. I turned, and there was Pebbles, walking straight towards us over the leaves that covered the lush forest floor, sun lighting her fur and her fierce blue gaze. Come to think of it, I hadn't noticed any forest or any background to StarClan's hunting grounds before that. I guessed it became whatever you thought it was.

The three dead cats didn't look surprised. "Maybe," said Stripes. "We think so. But no one has managed to find it yet."

After we'd filled Pebbles in on everything they'd told me, and what they hadn't told me, so far, they explained.

"We come from a clan that lives in a gorge, near the mountains, but not these ones," added Sparkpaw, "with a smallish clan called SkyClan. Bouncepaw and I accidentally... well, spare you the details, but we ended up here somehow, so we decided to help."

How had a live cat ended up in the stars? Or was she alive in the first place? But she looked alive, and very energetic, and no stars seemed to cling to her fur, like the StarClan cats they spoke of in AshClan. Very confused, I watched her, wondering if she'd take offense to my asking about her past. I decided against it.

"Okay," replied Pebbles, "but what's your point?" I could tell she didn't really care about what had happened to Sparkpaw and Bouncepaw, but _I_ was interested.

She tossed her head irritably, her eyes catching the afternoon sunlight that filtered through the forest's leaves and looking sideways at Bouncepaw. I suddenly felt an unexpected twinge of dislike towards him in my stomach. Pebbles was looking at me with slightly narrowed eyes.

"My _point _is that's what Pebblepaw _asked_," Sparkpaw replied irritably.

"WellI wasn't _here_, in case you hadn't _noticed_," said Pebbles scathingly, throwing me an annoyed look. Something about Sparkpaw seriously ticked her off, but what had _I_ done?

"So-_ree," _replied Sparkpaw under her breath. I felt my sympathies swaying between the two she-cats. "What I'm saying," she continued in a raised voice, "is that what's going on is the age-old barrier between strays, kittypets, and clan cats has been broken. By Ridge. He knows one of the cats in the clan personally, and he wants revenge. He hates twolegs, he hates AshClan. He's going to try and take them both out in one fell swoop. And it's going to work. What you need to do is stop him. You need to tell the Alley cats the whole story, right from the beginning. The clans, their leaders, the warriors, Ridge himself, everything. Then they'll see sense."

"But what _is _the whole story?" demanded Pebbles. I nodded.

"We walked one of your clanmate's dreams," Stripes said, "and we heard the whole story. We don't know if StarClan saw it too, but we heard.

"When Ridge was a young tom, he was a kittypet," began Stripes, "and he had a sister, and her name was Star. They lived where Pebbles lives now, and..."

He told us the whole thing, but without saying my clanmate's name. Then he told us in the last sentence, and I gasped in amazement.

"No way!" Pebbles gasped, agape.

"Way." Stripes replied gravely.


	9. Chapter 8: The End and the Beginning

_**Chapter 8: **_**The End and the Beginning**

_It wasn't my fault._

I just walked a different path than him. That's all.

He didn't like that, though.

My name was Star. His name is Ridge. We lived together. We were brother and sister. I didn't think really about him, not after I left home, and left that life behind, and him. I didn't think about Ridge much anymore. Not until now.

I was happy. I have a mate, a kit, and a happy life. Mostly.

Now I have dreams every night, and they sure aren't about chasing butterflies. And it's the same dream every time.

It started about a season ago. It was when I first met Pebblepaw, and talked to him. It was weird. I mean, he was just a shy little kit, and I didn't havanything in particular to say about him. I didn't make that connection between him and the dreeams.

He was going to be a strong, good warrior, I told his parents. I didn't tell them how I knew he would be nothing exceptional. It was just something I could tell. He was a normal little guy. Sweet, but nothing legendary.

Then his father died. Tragic. Ridgestar felt pretty bad for them, so she had the deputy, Stagfrost, mentor little Pebblepaw. I agreed with her decision... mostly. I found myself watching him, looking to see if he'd turn out as anyone exceptional, even though my instinct said he wouldn't.

I don't trust my instinct.

He turned out a fine, strong, brave warrior, stoic and silent, and with no real friends that I could see. I felt kind of bad for him, dad dead, tough mentor, and no friends. But before I could say anything, he disappeared. There was a big flurry of fear and search parties, and then everyone calmed down and almost completely forgot about him.

My dreams always went like this.

* * *

"Star?"

I groaned and rolled over, blinking slowly. The sunlight was white-bright in my eyes, and a single shadow was leaning over me. A hulking shadow with huge shoulders and dark, gleaming eyes.

"Yeah, what...?" I said, yawning.

"I have an idea," he informed me.

"Great," I told him. I dragged myself to my paws, blearily made my way to the kitchen, and swallowed some stale breakfast pellets. Ridge was pacing around me, telling me constantly to hurry up, wake up, get moving, and, come on Star, can you possibly go any slower?

I felt like lying down and going back to sleep after breakfast, but Ridge had other plans. He had a way of getting you to do what he wanted you to.

* * *

"What's this?" I asked.

"It's a forest," said Ridge bluntly.

"well I can see that," I replied irritably, with half a mind to tell him I was going back home. "I mean where are we _going_?"

"Into it," he said.

_Yeah right, _I thought, stopping dead in my tracks. "No way, man," I told him. "You couldn't drag me in there with an oil tanker. I'm dead before I go in there. Nope, sorry, you know, I'm going to go home and sleep now, like, you know, a _normal _cat."

Ridge stared at me. "We _aren't_ normal," he said in his low, hushed voice. "We're meant for something bigger. This is it."

"No way," I said again, backing away.

We were on the sidewalk in front of a huge forest, all read and gold from the autumn and white sunlight slanting through its branches. Clouds hung white and puffy against the pale blue sky above it, and moss draped over every branch like waterfalls. A river gushed, bluer than the sky above it, behind the trees, and an almost imperceptible footpath snaked among the mossy roots. It all swayed in the frosty breeze, maples and cedars and oaks, little bushes rustling beneath them.

It was the most uninviting place I'd ever seen.

"No, Star," Ridge said. "We're going in there. We have to, its our destiny."

"Excuse me, who made you the Seer of power?" I demanded. "How do you know what our _destiny _is? There's no such thing as fate anyway! We choose our own paths with every decision we make! We are who we are!"

"But we are shaped by our experiences!" argued Ridge.

"But if there's no such thing as fate, that wouldn't matter!" I countered. "There are too many variables and too many different spirits for anyone to ever know what's going to happen next!"

"But they could plan it out!" disagreed Ridge, practically yelling.

"_Who_ would?" I challenged. "God?"

"This conversation is getting us _nowhere!" _he snarled. I stopped. He looked insane, his teeth bared, a light in his eyes like chips of ice. I backed away further. "Sorry," he growled, backing up too. "I just.... I had a dream. I know it was no ordinary dream. You were there too, I know you need to come. I just know it. Maybe..." his eyes shifted, which I caught, "You were the cat behind, I'm sure of it. I was leading. The cat behind me was following me."

"So?"

"So? So we have to find out what." He jerked his head towards the woods. "Come on."

And he walked in. Didn't even look back. He knew me. He knew I would follow. But he didn't know how well I knew him.

The forest was actually pretty inviting, once you got in. Being autumn, it was all red and gold like a sunset, which is basically what fall it—an annual sunset. I liked that simile a lot, and was about to tell Ridge about it (plodding along in front of me with his face set and his eyes narrowed) when suddenly a huge crash echoed around us. A piercing yowl followed it.

"Whoa. What was that?" I asked Ridge.

"A tree falling," he replied indifferently, continuing. I, on the other hand, stopped.

"Ridge."

He ignored me and went on.

"Ridge!" He kept going as if I had said nothing. "Hey bighead! Captain divination! Hey! Someone got hit! Shouldn't we help them?!"

"No." he said without turning.

"Okay. Fine. You have fun on your little hike, I'm gonna go and see what happened, okay?" I called, finally getting tired of this idiot. "Bye!"

"You're not going anywhere," he replied calmly. "You're coming with me." I kept walking. "Star!"

Ignoring him was insanely satisfying.

"_Star_!"

And that was the last I heard of him.

* * *

"Hello?" I yelled.

"Oh... o...ver... here." The voice came frailly from the bottom of the basin I was in, full of beeches and maples, dropping their leaves in the morning sunlight. It was very lovely.

"Are you okay?" I asked, looking around for the victim. I could see the tree, but no cat appeared to be under it.

"N... sort of. Who is it?" The voice was coming from the other side of the massive beech, whose branches were still trembling from the impact.

"I'm Star. I'm lost. I come from a town over... somewhere, I forget, and my brother's a megalomaniac who thinks he sees the future. Who are you?"

"You're not from the clan?" Whoever was speaking was a tom, and he had a deep, dignified, and sensible voice.

"I could say yes, but then I'd have to find out what the clan is," I replied, avoiding a rock the same color as the tree on top of the cat.

A twig snapped nearby. I glanced up, coming towards the tree, a little nervous at being alone in the woods. I broke into a trot.

"Here," said the deep, shaken voice. I leapt with some difficulty onto the log, and then off the other side. The bark was smooth and surprisingly slippery. I leapt off the other side with a crunch of dead red leaves and saw the cat.

He was a dark tabby tom with eyes that were strikingly green. His stripes were dark brown on the black fur, and his paws were big and white and stained with his own blood. He wasn't especially big, but he was lean and muscular, and looked very powerful. He was crushed down by a branch and a net of twigs, and despite the blood, I could see no wounds on him.

"I'm Pinestar," he replied, and I could see where his namesake came from easily. He emitted an aura of shadowy pine forests with bars of sunlight slanting through the needles.

"Star," I said again. He smiled painfully. "How can I get you out?"

"Just pull," he answered, his smile becoming bared teeth and closed eyes. "I'm only stuck because the wounds weakened me."

I grabbed his scruff between my teeth instinctively and pulled, and with a rattling of dead leaves he came free. He was heavy.

I sat back, panting slightly, and he rose haggardly. "Thank you, Star," he said with dignity. I liked him. He was very calm. "So... Do you live with twolegs?"

"Um... Yeah. Well, I did. But I don't know if I'm going back there. I mean..." I took a deep breath, and then let the words gush out in explanation—"My brother is in a little bit of a nutty mood, and he's mad, and when he gets mad, it isn't generally pretty. He's a pretty convincing guy, like if he told me to go jump off a cliff because it was for my own good and the good of the world, I might do it. Well, I mean, _I_ wouldn't do it 'cause I don't mind standing up to him, but most cats would. A lot of his friends aren't really friends, they just kinda idolize him, and they just hang around like thugs. So I don't think I want to go back. I actually kind of like it here. It's really nice."

Pinestar stared at me. He probably only caught half of my rushed-out words, but he clearly understood my tone and the ones he had caught.

"Well..." he said thoughtfully, "Why don't you come with me? You can meet the clan and see if you want to stay or go back with... your brother."

"Okay," I agreed eagerly. "Oh, and, just so you know, he's a little bit wandering through the woods and you might see some of him soon. Just... tell your guards to maul him, okay?"

Pinestar chuckled. "Okay."

* * *

"Even leader. I wanna be leader someday."

"Why? Isn't that a whole lot of hassle?"

"I dunno. I don't think so. I wanna be like Pinestar, at least, he's so calm and everything. He's cool. And I would have nine lives."

"Yeah, right."

"_What_?"

"That's impossible. Only stories have nine-live-d-cats in them."

"Well, around here that's common knowledge. All leaders get nine lives, and StarClan gives them to them."

"Weird."

Stagpaw rolled over next to me. The eager apprentice was my only new denmate who was still awake. His blue eyes were bright in the gloom as he said, "Wouldn't you like nine lives?"

"Eh," I said. "First I gotta finish with this one. So far, okay."

"Yeah, I'll say. You're part of AshClan now! That's more than _Okay."_

"If you say so."

"I do."

"Okay then."

"Alright."

There was a pause.

"Stagpaw?"

"Yeah?"

"Why were the other apprentices laughing at me and making sniffing noises?"

"'Cause you smell funky."

"Hey!"

"Kidding. It's because they're snobs and you come from twolegplace. So they think you aren't as cool as them, 'cause they're clanborn. It's stupid."

"I'll say."

"Hey!" yelled a gruff voice. "Shut it down over there! You have lessons tomorrow, Stagpaw!"

"Yes, sir," Stagpaw grumbled.

"G'night, Stagpaw," I murmured, curling up.

"G'night, Ridgepaw," he replied in a muffled voice. A shiver ran up my spine.

Getting called by my brother's name was going to take some getting used to.


End file.
